Jail-door-locking mechanism



June 8 1926. I 1,587,810 J. T. WHITEHOUSE JAIL DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM Filed Aug st 11, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jun 8,1926. 1,587,810

J. T. WHITEHOUSE JAIL DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM Filed A g 11, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 8 1926.

1,587,810 J. T. WHITEHOUSE JAIL DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM Fil ed August 11, 1924. 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Maw/W I W"? I June 8 1926. 1,587,810

J. T. WHITEHOUSE JAIL DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM Filed August 11, 1924 5 et sheet 4 am" new June 8 1926. 1,587,810

J. T. WHITEHOUSE JAIL DOOR LOCKING MECHANISM Filed August 11, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented June a. 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN '1. WHITEHOUSE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIONOR TO THE VAN DORN. IRON WORKS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

JAIL-DOOR-LOCKING MECHANISM.

Application filed August 11,

This invention relates to improvements in jail door locking mechanism and is a'continuation of my prior Patent No. 1,543,140, granted June 23, 1925.

The objects of this invention are to provide a simplified means for locking the several doors of the jail cells and to provide also simplified means for controlling the locking mechanism of the doors; to provide also simplified means for indicating the open or closed condition of the several individual doors and to provide means for preventing jamming of the lock bolt by shutting of the door thereagainst; and also to provide means for preventing the indication of closed condition of any given door unless and until the particular door is actually and effectively closed and locked.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved means for mounting part of the lock controlling mechanism so that the position of such'mechanism can be varied in connection with the different doors according to the number of doors which are included and in this Way facilitate the arrangement of the control mechanism with an accompanying 'economizing of space.

It is to be understood that the lock control mechanism as here disclosed is capable of application and adaptation to any number of doors in the same manner as in the companion case above referred to; and, except as specifically pointed out in the present case, the structure and arrangement of parts are the same in this case as in the said "previous application.

Other objects will appear from the following decription and claims when considered together with the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows in elevation the control means for the door locking mechanism; Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of part of the same mechanism as shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows in elevation the arrangement of control levers and chain connections leading to the track box above the cell doors; .4 is taken on line 4-4, Fig. 1; 5 is a detail view taken on line 55, Fig. 1; Fig.

6 shows the subject matter of Fig. 5 at 90;

Fig. 7 is taken on line 7-7 of Fig. 1; Fig.

1924. Serial No. 731,384.

8 is taken on line 88 of Fig. 2, and Figs. 9 and 10 are detail views of the bell crank lever which forms part of the control mechanism for the lock.

As more fully explained in the companion application above referred to, each cell is provided with a sliding door 1, which opens to the prisoners corridor separated by a partition, wall or grating from the wardens room 'or corridor. The warden has access from his compartment or corridor to the control box 2 within which are enclosed the levers for cotrolling the locking mechanism of the several doors. Only two doors are indicated in the present case and each door is suspended from a hanger 3 mounted upon rollers which engage tracks for rolling movement along the track box. I The track box extends above the cells and encloses part of the lock controlling mechanism. At the closing edge of the door in each case there is provided the pilasterfi which en-' closes the. latch itself and into which the latch bar 6 carried by the door is adapted to project for locking engagement by the latch. A suitable cover is provided for each pilaster and a cover means is provided also for the track box in the same manner as in the companion application above referred to. As also more fully explained in said co pending application, the door between the wardens chamber and the prisoners corridor is locked by means of bolt 7 which in turn is controlled by the hand lever 8. Corresponding to'each door there, is provided a control lever 9, which levers are arranged in two tiers, as clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and 3, and which occupy raised position when the doors are locked and lower or horizontal position when they are unlocked, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Another control lever 10 is provided for controlling the locking means 10 for the covers of the track box in the same manner as disclosed in the companion application, and the lever referred .to'later in the present application.

The latch 5, as more clearly indicated in Figs. 5' antic, is normally forced downwardly by the sprin 12 which engages at one end the'pin 13 the. latch being guided in such vertical movement by means of guideways 14 secured within the pilaster. The other end of the sprin 12 is anchored by nut 15 threaded on bo t 15 which in turn extends up throu'gh the lower end portion ofthe guideway 14. In this way the tension of the spring and hence the position of the bolt may be adjusted, if necessary, by turning nut 15*. The pin 16" is a stop to limit the downward movement of the latch rod 16. The latch as it projects through the lower end of the guideway 14 is adapted to engage in the notch provided in the latch bar 6 .carried by the door as it projects through an opening permitting its entrance into the pilaster. The latch 5 is' mounted upon the 30 lower end of the vertical rod 16 .which exbracket, as illustrated in Fig. 3, this means being the same as that provide in the companion application between the control lever and the lock controlling mechanismin the track box. From this it will be seen that upon lowering theproper lever for a particular door, the latch will .be raised against the tension of the spring 12 so as to unlock the door and permit the same to open.

At the same time another locking-means which is provided for securing the door in closed position is unlocked or released by the same lowering movement of the lever in the control box. This second look comprises a latch bolt 21 which is adapted for vertical movement through the arms of a bracket 22 carried by the hanger member 3 "of the door and which is adapted to engage at its lower end the recess 23 provided in the upper side of gap nut 24. As before explained, the hanger member uponwhich the door is suspended is adapted to move along on the track box by means of rollers which are provided with a suitable track for this purpose. When the gap nut 24 occupies the position shown in Fig. 1, the latch bolt 21 is adapted to engage the recess 23 therein so as to maintain the door in closed position.

the control lever 11 being at this time in the lower position as indicated in Fig. 1. This mechanism is of the same structure and has the same manner of operation as in the ed'to the latch bolt,

the particular means by which the latch bar 21 is lifted out of engagement with the recess 23. In-the present case the latch bolt 21 is raised by' engagement of the bar 26 which is pivotally connected at the point 27 with the intermediate link 28 which in turn is pivotally mounted at 29 on the depending arm 30 mounted in the top of the track box. The bar 26 is adapted to be moved toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 1, by means of the rod or wire 31 to which it is connected and Whichis pivotally connected at 32 to the upper end of the bell crank lever 33. The bell crank lever 33 is pivotally mounted .on the upper part of stationary bracket 18 and has pivotal connection at-the point 34 with the upper end of a connecting rod or link 35 which is in turn pivotally connected at its other end at the point 36 to the main bell crank lever 17. By means of these connections it will be seen that upon operation of the chain 20 by depressing the corresponding lever in the control box, the latch 5 will not only be raised out of locking engagement with the door latch bar 6, but .the bar 26 will also be moved toward the left and will be raised vertically sufiiciently to engage the roller 37 on the upper end of the latch bolt 21 so as to raise the latch bolt out of engagement with the notch 23 in the gap nut. The door is then relased completely so as to be free for opening movement.

Simultaneously with the two unlocking operations just described, another operation takes place upon the lowering of the control lever for any door. This other operation involves several parts which are mounted in the tripper case 38 which is secured in the left hand upper part of the track box, such a'tripper case being provided for each door. The mechanism now to be referred to is shown in detail in Fig. 8 and comprises the detent '39 which is pivotally mounted at the point 40 for movement in a lateral plane, this detent being under the influence of spring 41 on the one side. A spring 42 surrounds the rod 43 which might be considered the plunger rod of plunger 44 enclosed in the tripper case, the other end of the spring 42 having suitable bearing. When, the door is in closed position, the tripper pin 44 carried thereby is adapted to engage the plunger 44 so as to compress the spring 42 and force the rod 43 toward the left, as indicated-in dotted lines in Fig. 8, and move the detent 39 toward the left against the tension of the spring 41. ,With the detent 39 occupying such position, that is when the door is closed, the upwardly extending rod or pin 45 which is pivotally connected at the point 45 at its lower end to the one arm of the main bell crank lever, is adapted to project upwardly past the deaforesaid companion application except for tent 39 so as to permit the control lever to return to its upper position for indicating ever, the door is open, the detent is moved toward the right, as viewed in Fig. 8, by the spring 41 so as to occupy position direct 1y above the pin or rod 45 and thus prevent vertical movement of the pin 45, or in other words will prevent movement of the control lever to its fully raised position. In this way, so long as the door is in open position or in other words until the door is in fully closed and actually locked position, the control lever will remain in lowered posit-ion corresponding to the position indicated by the word unlocked in Fig. 3, and will accordingly indicate such condition of the door. Likewise while the door is open the interlocking mechanism just now described will maintain the latch 5 in raised position while the door is in open position and in this way will prevent jamming of the latch 5 as might otherwise be caused by the prisoner slamming the door. Upon releasing the two-fold locking mechanism of the door so as to permit the same to open, the tension of the spring 42 upon the door being released will through its engagement with the tripper pin 44 spring the door to slightly open position.

Another particular feature of the present invention relates to the special form of bracket 18 which is here shown as being LQ- cured at its one end in the upper part of the pilaster while its other end'is secured to the lower side of the tripper case. This bracket is of angular form. as clearly indicated in Fig. 7, and extends in spaced relation to the rear of the track box so as to afford suitable accommodation for the bell crank lever mechanism which is mounted thereupon. This bracket is provided with a series of openings so that the bell crank lever 17 can be mounted at the proper elevation thereon according to the number of the cell to which it corresponds. The plate 18 is 'removably secured in position on bracket'l8 by means of bolts and carries the countersunk bolt 18 upon which the lever 17 is mounted. Thus this removable structure can be applied as a unit to bracket 18 at any elevation desired, while the bracket 18 is partof the permanentframe structure. As clearly set forth in the companion application, the chains 20 which lead from the control box to the control levers for the several doors, are arranged in a vertical bank one above the other. So that .in the present case the bell crank lever eoi'responding to cell 1 will occupy lowermost position, bell crank lever for door 2 will be mounted upon bracket 18 in the next higher position'aiid so on, the series, of openings in each bracket permitting the same bracket to ,be used throughout and to be mounted in'tbe same manner and in thesame corresponding position. The rods 16, 35 and locked condition of the door. When, how- 4 5 must of course be of proper length for each door:

Sufliciently large openings are provided in the top of the pilaster so as .to permit the bell crank lever 17 to be mounted on the lower part of the bracket and extend with its connections up through the pilaster to the track box.

Briefly the operation is as follows: .As suming the doors to all be in locked con-' dition, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and assuming that it is desired to open a given door; the proper lever, as indicated by a corresponding number in the control box, will be depressed to fully lowered position so as to release the latch 5 and at the same time release also the latch bolt 21. The door is then tree to open and will be sprung open to a certain extent by the spring 42. At the same time the pin 45 upon being lowered permits the detent 39 to move to the right, as viewed in Fig. 8, so as to intercept and thus prevent upward movement of the pin 45 so long as the door remains lever is prevented from returning to upper or unlocked position until the detent 39 in open position. In this way the control 7 is moved to the left by actually and etlectively closing and locking the door. Release of the control lever, upon opening the door, will permit such lever to move to substantially horizontal position, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, corresponding to unlocked position as indicated in Fig. 3. The door may then be more fully opened by .the Warden or by the prisoner himself. Then, when it is desired to close and lock the door, this may be accomplished by the prisoner or the warden actually moving the door itself to fully closed position so that the latch bolt 6 projects into the pilaster.'

At the same time the tripper pin 44 is brought into engagement with the plunger 44 and forces the detent 39 to the left so as to permit upward movement of the pin 45 by lit) the. action of the spring 12. At the same time spring 12 forces latch 5 to locking engagement with the latch bolt '6. This closing operation of the door at the same time also moves the hanger, upon which the door is suspended, alongthe track box so as 'to cause the latch bolt 21 to ride up the inclined face of gap nut and to drop into the notch 23 for locking engagement therewith. Should,'however, the

warden, desire to close the door of a given cell without'going into the prisoners corridor, this may be done by raising the control lever 11 to fully raisedposition and then lowering same. Such operation isefl'ected thrpughthe rack and gearmechiinism 46,

more fully described in the companion application and in the same manner asthere set forth. -Briefiy, the gap nut of each door is moved first to the right to the full extent of opening of the several doors so as to permit the latch bolts 21 of the several doors to ride up the inclined faces of the gap nuts and to be engaged by the shoulders or high walls of the recesses 23; then upon lowering lever 11, the doors are moved to closed posit-ion. It will be observed that upon lowering lever 11, the latch bolt 21 is not permitted to be lowered to the .bottom of the recess 23 but occupies such position that its lower end is just free of the one side of the notch 23. This is for the purpose of permittingthe gap nuts to be moved to the right at any time by operation of. the lever 11 so as to close any door which might have been left open without disturbing or being interfered with by the depending latch bolts of any other (1001: which mlght already be effectively closed and locked. This feature is more fully explained in the companion application above referred to.

What I claim is:

1. A jail door locking mechanism comprising a lock bolt adapted for straight line movement into and out of locking position, 1

means for holding said lock bolt in unlocked position, and means carried by the door for releasing said holding means and permitting'locking engagement therewith.

2. A jail door locking mechanism comprising a spring-actuated lock bolt adapted for straight line movement into and out of locking position, means for holding said lock bolt in unlocked position, and means carried by the oor for releasing and holding means and permitting locking engagement therewith.

3. A jail door locking mechanism comprising a lock bolt adapted for straight line movement into and out of locking position,

means for holding said lock bolt in unlockedposition, and means adapted for actuation by closing of the door for releasing said holding means and permitting locking engagement therewith.

'4. In a jail door locking mechanism, the combination of a door, separate means including a lock bolt having straight-line movement for locking said door closed, and operative connections between said locking means whereby one, of them can be further actuated without afiecting the other.

5. In a jail door mechanism, the combination of a door, means for locking said door including a lock bolt having straight-line movement into and out of locking position, means for operating-saidlocking means and indicating open or closed condition of the door, said means being so constructed and arranged that the open position of the door willbe so indicated until the door is closed and actually looked. I

6. In a jail doormechanism, the combination of a door; means forlocking said door, and spring actuated means arranged entirely above said door for preventing throwing of said locking means except when the door is closed.

7. In a jail door mechanism, thecombination of a door, means for locking said door, means for indicating open or closed condition of the door, and means arranged entirely above said door so that open position of the door will be indicated until the door is closed and actually looked.

8. In a jail door mechanism, the combination of a door, means for locking said door, means for indicating open or closed condition of the door, and means located away from the region of the door whereby open position of the door will be indicated until the door'is closed and actually locked.

9. In a jail door mechanism, the combination of a door, means for locking said door, a casing arranged above said door, and spring actuated means arranged entirely within said casing for preventing throwing of said locking means except when the door is closed.

10. In a jail door mechanism, the combination of a door, means for locking said door, spring actuated means for preventing throwing of said locking means except when the door is closed, a single lever control means connecting said locking means and preventing means, and means for operating said lever controlv means.

11. In a jail door locking mechanism, the combination of a door, separate means including a lock bolt having straight line movement for locking said door in closed position, a single lever control means operatively connecting said separate locking means, and means for operating said lever control means.

12. In a jail door locking mechanism, the

combination of a door, separate means having a lock bolt having straight line movement for locking said door in closed position, a bell crank lever operatively connecting said separate locking means, and means for operating said lever.

13. In a jail door locking mechanism,the combination of a door, separate means for locking said door in closed position, spring actuated means for preventing throwing of said locking means except when the door is closed, a single lever control means operatively connecting said locking means and preventing means, and means for operating said lever controlmeans r 14. In a jail door mechanism, the combination of a plurality of doors, a track-box extending above said doors, means for controlling said doors, said control means being locatedin. said track box at different ele vations according to therespective.- doors, and a bracketprovided for'supporting part of said controlling means for each door, said brackets being mounted at the same level throughout and each being adapted for mounting of the controlling means for any door.

15. In a jail door mechanism, the com bination of a plurality of doors, a track box extending above said doors, means for controlling said doors, said control means being located in said track box at different elevations according to the respective doors,

and a vertically extending bracket provided for supporting part of the door-controlling means for each door, said brackets being provided with vertically spaced apertures and being mounted at the same level throughout, thereby serving" to support the controlling "means for any door.

In testimony whereof I hereby aflix my signature.

' JOHN T. WHITEHOUSE. 

